As almost every business now relies heavily on technology and computers, it has become increasingly important to choose the right digital business tools to have in your toolbox.

To help you along, we are listing the business tools (software, phone apps, and web apps) we use in our day-to-day business. Chances are you will find a new tool for your business that benefits you. If you have suggestions for an addition that should make this list that we have missed then please leave a comment in the comment form below.

Benefits of a Good Business Tool

There are four aspects that define a good business tool:

1. Saves you Time
2. Saves you Money (ties into #1)
3. Easy to Use
4. Inexpensive or Free

The tools and software we present have at least one of these attributes, but many will have several if not all.

Essential Business Tools

Communication

Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is probably the software business tool that we use most. It ties all of our email addresses into one central command. Using filters, email can be automatically sorted, deleted, or moved to the spam box. It’s also easy to archive and backup emails and there is virtually no limit to how many emails you can have. On top of all this functionality, we also use plugins that allow us to do everything from track email campaigns to create paypal invoices.

Gmail

Arguably the best free email provider, Gmail has tons of great features that allow you to get most of the goodness of Outlook without paying a dime and is a great business tool. With priority mailbox, you can set rules to filter your emails in a number of ways to get to important emails quicker.

One of the most important features of Gmail email is that you can import email accounts from other providers. So if you have a Yahoo email address, a Hotmail email address, an AOL email address, and a Gmail address, you can funnel all of those email addresses into Google. No longer do you have to log in to each account and check emails at each site. Other providers either do not offer this or charge for it (ie Yahoo).

Another great feature of Gmail is that it uses Postini spam filtering. Postini offers some of the best spam filtering on the market and constantly gets rave reviews. We can attest to its usefulness as VERY little spam reaches our inboxes.

For these reasons (among others), Gmail is our go to solution for a smart phone app as we can easily view our email using the free Gmail app. For those that use Outlook, you can also get a connector program that links your Gmail data with your Outlook data, and vice versa.

Schedule St.

This great Android app (also available for iPhone and iPad) is a great scheduler/calendar for on the go. There are tons of scheduling apps available but what makes this one special is that it is rock-solid, free, and integrates with Gmail for a seamless calendar experience across the board from desktop to phone. For example, if you are on site with a client and the client wants to schedule a meeting, you can pull up your schedule on Schedule St. and book a time to meet. When you enter the time, it can sync with your Google calendar and when you pull up your Google calendar from your desktop a few days later, you will see the time slot reserved.

Remember that Outlook connection program we mentioned before? It syncs your Gmail and Outlook. So when you look at your Outlook calendar, you will see the time slot reserved as well. In other words, it works seamlessly to sync Outlook, Gmail, and Schedule St. into one awesome system for keeping track of your schedule and tasks no matter where you are or what device you are using.

Productivity

Microsoft Office

This is probably a given for most people so I will not go into it. If you want free alternatives that can work just as well, check out our previous blog post or check out this resource for more office business tools.

Google

This is another obvious choice but needs to be stated. Using advanced search methods, you can uncover a treasure-trove of results that can save time, answer questions, and even provide you with new leads.

Time Management

Paymo

Paymo is an incredible, free web app for keeping track of time and billing clients. You can create any number of clients and tasks and then bill time to those clients with an easy to use stopwatch. Reports can be generated at any time, covering any time interval, and then be sent to a client as a PDF or a link. They also offer invoices and payment options for a monthly fee if this turns out to be an important business tool for you. We are quite happy with the free offering for our needs. (Hint: create “reports” instead of “invoices” and invoice your clients with paypal)

Alarm Clock Xtreme Free

This Android app provides a very flexible alarm clock and stopwatch. If you have set times when you need to do things throughout the day then you can use this app to remind you. Just load up an MP3 file and let your favorite song inform you it’s time to move on to something else. This is a great business tool for those of us that get carried away.

Social Media

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is an excellent control panel for your social media activity. If you wanted to, you could do all of your social media posting and reporting straight from the dashboard. But it gets better than that. We have our blog RSS feed linked to Hootsuite which in turn post to all of our social media accounts including Facebook and Twitter. There are over 40 different social sites that you can link to. When you post a blog post, your content gets sent to all of your social sites automatically. There’s no need to log into all of your social accounts and post a link to your article. This saves enormous amounts of time. With the reporting features, you can see metrics in near real-time.

Facebook

By far the defacto social media site is Facebook. For that reason, it is important to stay on top of this incredible business tool not only with your own activities on Facebook, but the activities of others. Your competitors can give you ideas, but the best place to start with gathering ideas for your own posts and social activity is to scan Facebook everyday and look for trends or novel articles, pictures, or videos that can help your business in some way. When you start using Facebook with your business in mind, you’ll be surprised at how this simple change in perception can influence your business’ social presence.

Besides the many benefits of social media and spreading your blog, there are also several SEO benefits. For one thing, you get lots of backlinks and every time your story is shared you have the potential for new visitors.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Google Analytics

There is absolutely no point in pursuing SEO if you have no idea where you are right now and where you should be as far as search results are concerned. Google Analytics provides you with a suite of business tools to judge the performance of your website(s) and track it through time.

It’s important to check in on your metrics at least a couple of times a week. As you implement your SEO strategy, you want to be able to see increases in visitors and page views. As you change website elements to increase conversions, you want to be able to see higher interactivity (page views, conversions, email sign ups, etc.).

Google Webmaster Tools / Bing Webmaster Tools

Google and Bing both provide great business tools for analyzing your website(s). With your webmaster tools you can identify website issues (uncrawlable pages, broken links, html issues) and view performance data (backlinks, search queries, visitors). Like Google Analytics, you should regularly review your data for any signs of bad performance or website issues.

Commercial SEO Products

Tons of commercial SEO products exist today. We’re not going to cover any of them in this article, but there are winners and losers just like any software category. If you are serious about SEO and/or are a professional SEO then consider the following criteria when choosing your commercial SEO tools:

• Does it have a recurring monthly fee? If so, does it provide you with the tools that will allow you to pay for it and then some?
• Does it provide an extensive suite of tools?
• How many people use it and what are their results?

Security

Avast Antivirus

Avast Free Antivirus is easily the best free antivirus on the market today. Even in the free version, it is proactive and really does block threats before they come a problem. Their secret lies in heuristic analysis of common virus behavior. We use it on all our PCs and install it for free for all of our clients. It is a must have if you are using a PC. Ditch the Norton or McAfee and start using REAL protection.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

This is an enormously powerful tool for removing all kinds of security threats as well as privacy concerns (tracking cookies, spyware, trojans, keyloggers, etc.). The paid version gives you more features and better active security, but the free version is a great business tool on its own as long as you remember to update and run it every once in a while.

What Essential Business Tools Did we Miss?

Our business tools have evolved over time and we have found new and better tools while abandoning old ways. Do you know of some better tools? Or maybe we missed some key business software that should not be omitted? Let us know!

Leave a comment below or contact us.

The post Essential Business Tools for your Computer appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

It seems like it was just yesterday, but it was actually March 2009 when ATL Computer Repair was founded. It’s been a great four years and we’d like to pay it back for all the customer love over the years by offering a special anniversary deal.

From now until the end of April, we are offering a special on our computer tune-up/optimization service.

It is normally $65 but we are offering it for a limited time for only $39.99.

This special includes our same excellent tune-up service which includes the following to help your computer run faster and error free:

• Perform a systems diagnostics to indentify computer hardware problems
• Clear out junk files which frees up disk space
• Clean up the registry to improve system performance
• Update your system with all the available updates to ensure security
• Defragment your hard drive to improve speed
• Perform a variety of tweaks to enhance performance
• Check Windows for system file corruption

Get your computer running faster and smoother and help us celebrate four great years in Smyrna by contacting us today!

The post ATL Computer Repair 4 Year Anniversary appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Open Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat and navigate to Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) menu. Check the option for “Files from potentially unsafe locations”.

If you want even stronger protection, you can choose “All Files” though the previous setting is recommended.

As always, make sure you also keep Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat up to date.

For more about this issue, check out the official Adobe statement.

The post Fix a Security Vulnerability in Adobe Reader appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Crashplan is offering one free year of unlimited cloud backup for current users of Carbonite that want to switch. But, all you really need is an email address that is not already registered with Crashplan. Follow this link to sign up for the offer and download the software for free.

https://www.crashplan.com/carboniteswitcher/

Cloud backup is recommended even if you already backup to an external hard drive in your home. This gives you an added layer of data protection. The software works on Windows, Macs, and Linux operating systems.

The post Free Unlimited Cloud Backup – Limited Time! appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

As a general rule of thumb, you can expect a laptop to be efficient for 3 years. After this time, it may even become a necessity to upgrade if you are running software that requires features found only in the latest update.

But this is not a requirement for some users. I’ve had clients bring in 8-10 year old laptops that were still functioning, but had some minor issues.They were happy to keep using their old laptops.

It works for me

Many PC users don’t have any problem with using older technology. This is great! Electronic gadgets should be run until they can run no more (or at least not without computer repair costs that exceed its value).

We’ve reached an era where compatibility reigns king. With the proliferation of mobile devices (iPads, smartphones, etc.), there is a necessity to provide content to all users on all platforms. I bring this up because it means that computers, tablets, etc. can run for many more years without requiring upgrades (for most users).

Without going into geeky monologue, let’s just say that the latest operating systems and hardware innovations will provide for better long-term computers. Whether you choose Microsoft, Linux, or Mac, they will all provide more for most users. With the latest upgrades to both Intel and AMD‘s lineups, we are looking at solid CPU’s that will out-perform on most user’s needs for years to come.

I need a better computer/I run a business

If you run a business, it’s a good idea to use the most stable platform available to you.

Likewise, you might just be a home user that is tired of the overheating, heavy, slow, and old laptop you have.

Home User

Don’t feel guilty about wanting to upgrade when you have a perfectly functioning laptop. I would especially recommend an upgrade if you are still running Vista.

If you buy a laptop right now, you can get a great deal. Microsoft is about to release Windows 8 and all new laptops will likely ship with this already installed. Distributors are going to want to be clearing their stock of “old” Windows 7 laptops to make way for the new Windows 8. This means that you can probably get some great deals on laptops right now and in the near future.

Another noteworthy recent event is the unveiling of the Ivy Bridge processors from Intel. These are effectively the 3rd generation of the i3-i5-i7 lineup. Any new laptop you buy today that has Intel will have these latest chips. Again, I’ll refrain from too much geekiness, but these chips have 3D technology. This means that they’ve stacked cores on top of each other, much like a skyscraper. This translates to better processing power and quicker response, which is going to be key for mobile devices in the future.

Business Computer Users

Stability is king. You want a business technological solution that meets your business’s needs and delivers 100% with little to no maintenance.

The reality of this is that it’s going to cost you quite a bit of money. Between IT staff/consultants, software upgrades, computer repair, and the myriad of other technological complexities (VPN, Cloud, Exchange, etc.), it can be a nightmare to think about upgrading computers. Often times, budget concerns trump any upgrade plan anyway.

But these things are necessary. If you want your business to thrive today and into the future, you need to think about your infrastructure. Do you have the latest security measures? Are you seamlessly backing up everything? Do you have secure (company private) networks in place for employees on the move? The questions are many, but the main point is that new technologies offer new challenges.

If you’d like to discuss various IT options and how to streamline your technology upgrades on a budget, please contact us.

The post When to call it quits with a Laptop appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Microsoft Word (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Microsoft Office has become the go to standard for document publishing software. Most users insist that they have this software on their computer from day one. Unfortunately, most new computers only include a trial version that is good for 60 days. After this period you must purchase the software and it can be quite costly depending on which version you get. The least expensive version sells for $149 new.

Most people don’t realize that there is a way to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and One Note for free online. They are not as feature packed as the stand-alone versions, but for 99% of what these programs are used for, the free online versions will suffice for most people’s needs. In this article, I will describe how to access these programs and then will discuss some of the pros and cons versus the traditional desktop versions of these programs.

Microsoft Live Skydrive

To start, you will need a Microsoft Live account. If you already have one, you can skip this step. If not, then read on. To sign up for an account, go here and fill in your information. Once you have signed up, you are half way there. In addition to being able to use the Microsoft Office programs, you now have a new email account as well as a 25GB cloud storage “drive” that you can use for whatever you like (document storage, picture sharing, backups, etc.). As a bonus, you can get a Skydrive App for your phone or tablet and have access to your data wherever you go.

Accessing the Skydrive

Microsoft has made it easy to access your skydrive right from your Microsoft Live login homepage. First, login to your account here (notice that this is an https address which signifies that the data is encoded and that security measures are in place). Once you have successfully logged in, you will see a row of links at the top of the page. Simply click on the link for “Skydrive” and you’re in.

Accessing and Using Microsoft Office

Once youare in your Skydrive, you should see the familiar Microsoft icons at the top of the main window including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and One Note. Clicking on any of these will take you to an edit page that will look very similar to the desktop equivalent. From here, anyone with any proficiency in Word etc. should find it easy to start writing, editing, and formatting in the same way you have always used these programs. In other words, there is nothing new to learn to be able to use these.

You will also find some other useful options on the main page. For instance, you can create folders to organize your documents the same way you would do on your computer. You will also see an “Add Files” link that will allow you to upload any type of file you want to your skydrive, whether it is a Word document you want to edit online or a zip file with your data backups. On the left hand side of the page you will see your current storage quota, a share link, as well as “documents” and “photos” links. For this article, we will stick with the Microsoft Office applications.

Click on the Word icon (first icon on left) to load the edit page for Microsoft Word. It will ask you to name the document. Type in a name and click on “create”. As mentioned, the online version is nearly identical to the desktop version. What is of special note here are the multiple options available when you click on “File” in the top left corner. This will give you a dropdown menu with many options that are not available in the desktop version. From here you can save, print, share, and secure your document. Note that while you can save your document, you cannot save the file to your computer. A way around this is to access the document from a computer that has Word installed on it. You can then use the first option, “Open in Word”, to get your document into the desktop version of Word where you will be able to save it as a file on the computer. Alternatively, if you don’t need to edit it anymore, you can choose the print option and use a free PDF writer program such as CutePDF to save the document on your computer as a PDF file.

That’s all there is to it. Take some time to explore the different programs and options available. There’s a lot of potential there! Of course, it’s not without it’s faults, which is what the next section will cover.

Pros and Cons of Using Skydrive Microsoft Office

Here are some of the pros and cons for using the Live version of Microsoft Office versus using the Desktop version of Microsoft Office 2010.

Pros:

• It’s free!
• You can access your documents from any device with an internet connection.
• It is easy to share and collaborate on documents.
• You get 25GB of free cloud storage space which you can use for documents as well as other files.
• Since the data is stored in the cloud, it is safe from computer failures such as a hard drive crash.

Cons:

• The biggest disadvantage is that you must have an internet connection.
• Documents can not easily be saved to the computer you are using unless that computer has Microsoft Office installed.
• You are limited to 25GB free storage space, which shouldn’t be a problem for most people.
• If you are locked out of your Live account for any reason, you also lose access to your documents.

All in all, I think the pros far outweigh the cons and for those on a budget, this could be the ideal solution. For those looking for a desktop suite of Office programs on a budget, you might also want to look into LibreOffice and OpenOffice, both of which provide excellent free alternatives to the Microsoft Office programs (they are also intercompatible with Microsoft Office document formats so you can open/save files in any of these programs).

As always, please feel free to comment or ask questions using the form below. You can also contact me directly by visiting here.

The post Use Microsoft Office for Free, Legally! appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Image via CrunchBase

As Microsoft gets poised to release it’s newest incarnation of Windows, Windows 8, they have released a consumer preview version for people to try out for free. For all intensive purposes, this is a beta version, so things might not work perfectly but its nonetheless a great way to try it out for free before Microsoft releases the commercial versions for sale.

Here is the link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

If you plan on downloading and installing this, we recommend that you do it on an unused, spare computer or that you install it inside of a virtual machine. You wouldn’t want to run this as your main operating system anyway as it is a beta version. As always, please backup any important data first. If you don’t know what you are doing or don’t feel comfortable installing Windows 8, then please don’t. You can always post questions as a comment to this post and we will assist you from there.

Windows 8 looks to be Windows 7 with a new interface (or front end) that will be handy for tablet users (and other mobile devices). The “Metro” theme incorporates lots of quick shortcuts in a graphical manner. I’m sure most people who are using a desktop will want to disable this as it’s more adept for touchscreen devices.

In any case, give it a spin and let us know your thoughts.

The post Windows 8 Consumer Preview Now Available appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Below you will find a table with our top picks for Black Friday laptop deals for 2011. You can click on the links to go to the store page. The first price listed is the sale price on Friday and the second price is the current/regular price.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and we will try to answer it soon.

The post Black Friday Laptop Deals 2011 appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

Image via CrunchBase

LastPass is a browser add-on that let’s you store all of your passwords in the cloud, with encryption and password protection built in.

It’s definitely a unique concept to most and it might be hard to adopt…at first.

What happens after you start using it is nothing short of amazing!

Let’s take my personal usage for example. I visit a site for the first time. I decide I want to register with the site. I start to enter my details and then remember that I have a great tool at my disposal. I have already created a custom profile for this situation. Why not utilize it? I make a few mouse clicks and I’m surfing secure and happy.

When you start using LastPass, it’s easy to miss all the cool features below the surface. Sure, it’s a killer password saving utility, but even more it’s got a lot of junk below the trunk.

One of the coolest “hidden” features of LastPass is the “Profile” feature. You can set up an almost infinite amount of profiles if you want. One good use would be to set up your legitimate info in one profile. When you go to new sites to buy something, you can use LastPass’s “Fill Form” to quickly fill in all your info. It is very cool and saves loads of time.

The uses of LastPass are more than meets the eye. If you have an interesting use, please share with a comment.

Get it here: http://lastpass.com

The post Computer Tip of the Day: Lastpass for Secure and Lasting Passwords appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.

To redeem this discount, simply provide proof when you book a service with us. We will apply this discount to your total service bill. Sorry, we can not offer a discount on parts as we give these parts to you at our cost, as part of our service.

If you know someone that deserves a discount for their service, please let them know about ATL Computer Repair. We will be happy to offer a discounted service for those that serve this country.

The post Announcing a 10% Discount for Military, Police, and Firefighters appeared first on ATL Computer Repair Blog.